Crackle Launches A Slew of New Online Series

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Ed Brubaker and David Faustino talk about their new web shows.

By Matt Fowler

Crackle.com is about to hit us with a bunch of new original programming, in the form of a dozen or more new web series. The idea behind this is to use the web as a vehicle for original content, and not even necessarily the idea of having a series eventually make its way to network. On the web, there are more creative freedoms, even though there might not be much in the way of money. These new web episodes run anywhere from 5 to 10 minutes, and are more in sync with the attention span of a "web content" viewer. Some of the new shows include David Faustino's self parody Star-Ving and Ed Brubaker's action series Angel of Death.

It's cheaper to make shows on the web. The settings and effects might be limited, but it also frees up the imagination and usually a lot more unique and vital in their visions than normal network fare, which tends to get deluded down by corporate sponsors and producer's notes. Faustino's Star-Ving, in which he plays a "turned up to 11" version of himself, is particularly raunchy in its humor, but also features a slew of guest stars that were drawn to the project due to its quality. Stars like Ed Asner, Seth Green, Gilbert Gottfried, and his old co-stars from Married with Children and most of the cast from Growing Pains. Faustino plays an ex-child star who can't get an acting gig, and spends his time bumming around with his pal Corin Nemec (AKA Parker Lewis) while running a porno stand and trying to make a comeback in Hollywood.

Bud Bundy and Parker Lewis might lose.

"Our show was birthed out of the past 10 years of my life. My trials and tribulations coming off a show and having people only know you as that one character and seeing other cast members get their own shows," said Faustino at the recent TCA pess tour. He said that he's had many offers from Celebrity Reality shows over the years, but that he wanted to expose his own story in his own way, instead "of letting a reality show producer expose it themselves."

Comic scribe Ed Brubaker (Captain America, Sleeper) is also hitting the web on Crackle with Angel of Death, which stars Zoe Bell (Death Proof), Doug Jones (Hellboy) and Lucy Lawless (Xena: Warrior Princess). "It's a feature film that's meant to be on the internet…episodically," said Brubaker. The entire medium is reaching a "tipping point," he said and then added that "TV viewership is down and yet none of my friends ever miss their favorite TV shows." This indicates that the younger generations are used to watching shows on DVRs and on the web.

Zoe Bell is having a bad hair day

Angel revolves around a cold-hearted assassin, Eve (Bell), who suffers a traumatic head injury and begins to become haunted by visions of her past victims. Eve then turns on her old mob employers to seek vengeance for the crimes that she herself has committed. Having come from comics, Brubaker said that writing 10 minutes webisodes came fairly easy to him.